Space lives on your breath
by Haruhi Clause
Summary: Palkia thought that her spacial powers were useless and would rather have temporal powers. However, living with her family for two weeks made her realize just how significant to the world her abilities were and just how special she really is.
1. Chapter 1

"_Space lives on your breath…"_

…a phrase that never seemed to leave my mind.

Space…

I don't know… useless maybe? I was supposed to learn my powers when I was twelve, however, that was the day I went to school. The kids started to laugh at me, especially this one girl, who was a goddess, when they knew about my powers. They probably know more about space than I do, and if they are laughing at my supposed power, then it MUST be useless. Think about it, kids do not make fun of your powers unless they are deemed useless. All I know is that for starters, I apparently have the power to bend it to my will and two; it's a power that has the kids at school laughing at me.

Because of all of that, I told my family that I did not want to learn to control space and 'till this day, I have no concept of space whatsoever. They were upset at me, but I had to do what I had to do to protect my dignity. I wanted to be the girl who was normal, yet powerful. For a long time, they have been on me to learn my powers, but I kept telling them no. I'd wish that they would understand how much of an outcast these powers have truly made me.

Space is space. Useless air from the term, like the space in the corner of Dialga's dimension that he left for the clock tower he's been eying. Is that what I control? Open spaces between furniture? Whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's a useless power, like most of my other powers. Maybe even more useless than my whirlpool; you know, the water power I'm still trying to perfect? It's a good move; however, getting it to aim at your opponent was the hard part.

I layed on Dialga's waterbed, with these thoughts and many others were flowing through my mind. What am I good for in life? This was a question I've always seemed to ask myself. When was I going to be good enough? I lied there, looking at the blue, diamond filled sky, just filling my head with these thoughts. Sometimes I wondered if I am even good enough for Dialga. I glanced over at the blue haired young man sleeping alongside me, with his arms around me. I wondered; how am I good enough for him? He's strong, good looking and controls time. He could get any girl he wants. But he chose me…

He chose me…

I eventually sat up on the waterbed, careful not to wake up Dialga, went over him and proceeded to get out of bed and on to the floor. Once I got to standing up, I tip toed around the countless clocks and toasters he had scattered around the floor, put on my dress that I had folded on top of the nightstand and went to my vanity area I had next to a floating mirror. Since I was living at Dialga's, I needed something of my own, and my vanity area was very important to me. Everything was still in place when I looked into the mirror. Same pink striped halter dress that I just slipped on and my long pink hair was still neat.

I sat down on the mini stool and began to put on my make-up, since I was going to school. I couldn't leave the dimension without it on. As I stared at myself through the mirror I asked myself what Dialga saw in me that was just so darn attractive? In my mind, attractive is having beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that are irresistible. I have eyes that are so red; they can be compared to an apple and skin so light; that if I were to play in the snow, you'd have a hard time spotting me. 

If there was actually something I liked about myself… well I am a nice person. There's also the fact that Dialga has made me felt things I've never felt before but the biggest thing I loved was my bracelet; the gold and blue bracelet that sat gently around my arm. Dialga had made it for me, but it's more than just a piece of jewelry; it's something that, to me, greatly improves my self-image. You see, the medium sized blue stones in front of the bracelet are called time stones. These time stones hold great temporal power, according to Dialga.

One of the three stones, the one on the left, that's the one that gave me the full usage of one of the strongest and greatest powers of all: Roar of Time. With its power, I felt invincible, however, as powerful as it is, it's very tricky to get it to hit accurately, more so than my whirlpool. So, every time I got better at this power, it felt like a huge accomplishment. Not only does it look like a pretty streak of blue when it's used, but it also has the power to distort time around the opponent or object it's trying to attack. It's really an awesome power and it's boosts my confidence in school battles and in regular battles.

The gem in the middle is the gem that allowed me to feel the bends and twists of time itself. It's a cool ability because I felt like I could assist Dialga in time related tasks. When I could feel that time was being bent, my brain would start to twitch. Same with Dia, except, he feels the pain more than I do. I can float in this stones aura and feel the stability of time for myself.

Last but not least, the gem on the right gave me the power to distort, rewind, fast forward and stop time. I was still working through the manual for this one; however I really look forward to using this power. It had everything Dialga can do, which made me feel like I was just as powerful as he was. Thing is, I begged Dialga for this feature on my bracelet. At first, he was reluctant to give it to me because, well, he possesses the same powers. But, he felt bad for me and decided to give me the gem and teach me the powers. He only wanted to see me happy, and darn it, when it gave it to me yesterday, I was happy.

As I looked more and more at the gems, I fell even more in love with the concept. I just loved my bracelet and it has given me a huge boost of confidence. Confidence… is was something that I lack. Without Dialga or my new found powers, I don't know what I would do with myself. Without Dialga, I wouldn't know if I was worth something. He gave me the light I needed, though I get made fun of, he was the only one who truly cared about me.

I was putting the finishing touches on my face, putting on my lip gloss, I could see him in the corner of the mirror, getting up from bed and putting his jeans on. All I could do was blush at the moment, while trying to finish my make-up. Then I saw him coming up behind me in the mirror, coming slowly behind me to put his arms around me. All I could do was stare at him through the mirror. His blue hair that was shaped into a bob cut, his gray metal face pieces on both sides of his head, and those dreamy red eyes. Those were the same color as mine; however, they suited him better than they suited me. He didn't have a shirt on however, this WAS his place…

"Good morning, beautiful," Dialga said in his normal soft spoken voice, a voice that made me melt.

"Good morning, Dialga," I said as he knelt down and give me a kiss on my neck.

I got up from my seat and faced him. Dialga also got up from the floor as well, and opened his arms as a motion for me to embrace him. I wrapped my arms around him and began to rest my head on his bare chest. In that moment, it felt like everything just disappeared, it was just Dialga and me, standing there and rocking back and forth. I was taking in his scent and pretty much everything. His strong arms made me feel safe and his heart was beating at a normal pace.

"Hey Palks, wanna sit at the table and eat?" he asked as he took his right hand and used it to stroke my hair. "I'm going to go GQ myself and I'll be there."

I looked up at him and gave him a kiss. We unwrapped our arms around each other as I went over to the small dining table we had not too far away from the refrigerator. It was a round table with four chairs, even though it was only Dialga and I who lived here. I pulled up a chair and I sat down as I waited for him to "GQ" himself. Even though, from what I am watching him do, it doesn't really pass for GQing. He puts on his usual blue shirt, whilst his almost tan skin was shining in the light. He then reached down for his metal chest plate, the one with the blue diamond in the middle, and proceeds to stick it on to himself. For a finishing touch, he shakes his hair and calls it a day.

"You call that GQing yourself?" I laughed.

"With my like, totally awesome charm and good looks, yes," Dialga smirked as he went toward the refrigerator.

"Hungry?"

I squinted my eyes while he was trying to scoop out four decent sized restaurant containers and a gallon of orange juice. He also got out a whole gallon of maple syrup and cake icing as well as well. That all points to one thing: waffles. Like every morning, we have waffles for breakfast. Actually, Dialga is the one who has waffles all the time, except he also has waffle fries but he puts maple syrup on those as well.

"Left over Sweet Apple Massacre?" I asked with a smile.

Dialga looked over his shoulder and winked. "Dammit, you're good!"

Oh, and the Sweet Apple Massacre, is the name of the waffle stack from the restaurant called I-HOW. Which, to say, that is Dialga's favorite restaurant, and his favorite waffle stack. It has fifteen apple flavored waffles stacked on top of each other and on each waffle, there is caramel apple sauce topped with powdered sugar. On the top, it has pieces of baked and fried apples, nuts, apple pie filling and apple butter. Yes, the name first perfectly. It's just so much apple, it's a massacre.

Last night, Dialga got so full from the stack, that he actually had to take home the rest of them, thus for leftovers. From what I knew, we have eight left from that platter, amongst the three boxes we had. Dialga brought the three boxes to the table, plus an extra one he puts in the microwave for a minute. He took the other boxes, a gallon of maple syrup and a carton of orange juice and proceeded to sit them down at the table.

"So… you're not going to even heat those up?" I asked while lowering one eyebrow.

"Nah, Palks we don't have the time. We got school, 'member?" Dialga said.

After the microwave beeped, he then went over and took out a fourth container. He then came back over to the table and slides it my way, while winking at me. I opened the box and I couldn't believe what I saw. It was my favorite entrée from I-HOW. My favorite was the cupcake favored waffles. They were three waffles, made from cake batter and they had mulit-colored icing on each one, plus sprinkles. They were really good, especially when they also heat up the icing. It was truly a cake paradise. I looked up at Dialga and gave him a big smile. He must have ordered it to go and wanted to surprise me. He then pulled up a chair next to me and ate his waffles.

As I opened the container in front of me and slowly ate its contents, I couldn't help but smile as I glanced over at Dialga drinking from the orange juice carton. For some reason, I thought it was cute when he does that. However, as I saw him glance over at me, I quickly turned my cornered gaze off of him and focused on eating my meal.

"Want some?" Dialga asked as he handed me the orange juice carton.

I nodded as I quickly grabbed the carton from him and sipped a little juice from it to mostly wet my pallet. After drinking the small about of liquid I wanted to drink and finished my food, I put down the carton and began to ask a question I'd wanted to ask since be brought up school earlier.

"Hey, Dia, about school…" I started as I quickly got his attention.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Well, since school doesn't start 'till eight o clock, maybe you can help me with my temporal powers?" I finally got to ask him.

Right then and there, Dialga raised an eyebrow at me as he had a serious expression on his face. "I have wanted to talk to you about that, Palkia. Please… pull your chair up closer to me," he requested.

Feeling anxious about what he had to say, I pulled my chair up closer to his to the point there we could lean on each other without feeling uncomfortable. Many thoughts were running through my mind. Maybe he was going to tell me that he had to go ever the manuals with me again, or he would tell me that I accidently made a tear in time. That or maybe he'd tell me that I'm not making any progress.

He then took my hand, and brought it up to his metal chest plate, while still holding it with both his hands.

"Now, Palkia, I don't mind you having these powers. But sometimes it can be like where… you know… I feel that you are talking something away from me…" he started to say.

"What?" I asked in complete panic.

"I feel like you are taking away a part of who I am. I mean, lending you my strength is one thing but you want my Roar of Time and all of my temporal powers. And while I love to see you happy, I'm not feeling happy myself. Those powers are what make me… Dialga, you know?" He said as he was squeezing my hand.

"What I'm saying, Palkia is that… I feel that… I shouldn't teach you anymore than what I taught you… and I won't."

As soon as I heard that, my eyes instantly started to well up. The thought of not being taught anymore temporal powers was making my heart sink. These powers gave me a boost of confidence, confidence I thought I'd never have. They have made me who I was. I had fun practicing with Dialga and also having practice battles with him. I loved to show off my skills at school, and show everyone who made fun of me that I am powerful.

"But… Dialga, you'll take away something that made me confident…" I said as I started to cry.

Dialga reached over to me and rubbed the back of his hand on my face, trying to wipe my tears away. "Palkia, you need to listen to me, alright?"

"Now, it's not like I'm going to take away your bracelet or the Adamant Orb which has my strength. I'm not going to take away from what you have learned. I'm saying that I won't teach you anymore. I mean, Palkia, these powers are what make me Dialga, the Pokemon that controls time. When I use them, I feel special, but when you use them… I don't feel special anymore. Get what I'm saying?"

I nodded my head, while still in utter shock. "Okay then, then what makes ME special, Dialga? Tell me that?" I almost yelled.

"Palkia, you ARE special. You can control space. You're the space to my time," Dialga explained as he tried to calm me down.

"IT'S A USELESS POWER!" I cried as I slammed my fists against the table.

Dialga actually gave me a surprised look after that. That was rarely something I would do when I got mad, but then again, I've gotten a warning at school before for hitting a girl that makes fun of me.

"Space is nothing, Dialga. It's nothing. I got made fun of in school when I told everyone that one. Remember? You were there, Dia. You were there!" I cried.

Then, all of a sudden, he stood up and crossed his arms. "Palkia, why do you even give a damn about what people think of you? If they don't like you, then screw 'em."

I sat there, with my tears flowing at an even faster rate, extending my arms out to him so that he could help me up from the chair. As soon as he grabbed and pulled on my hands, I was off my chair and proceeded to wrap my arms tightly around him.

"Palkia, I… I only wanted you to be happy. I think… you should learn about your special powers. I want to see what makes you, you Palkia. You got me?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.

"Yes…" I said as I rested my head on his chest plate.

"Don't cry, Palkia. Everything's going to be alright," Dialga whispered into my ear. At least, I can spend some more time with Dialga before we head off for another boring day of school.


	2. Chapter 2

Here I am, walking arm and arm with Dialga to school. I have always treaded going there and it was because every Tuesday was Battle Day and Battle Day was the day that we got paired up with someone, and we battle for a grade. Easy, right?

Wrong.

Especially since your battle partner is a pretty blonde haired, Barbie-looking bully who always picks on you for being weaker. Month after month, she always beats me, and then gloats about it, saying that she's better and that she's stronger. Well, she IS stronger, considering that she always beats me with her psychic attacks but she just provokes me to the point where I want to hit her in her pretty little face.

"Righty then, we need to hurry up to school before Arceus hits me up for money," Dialga said as he grabbed my hand and ran.

"Wait! What makes you think he would be around?" I asked while I tried to keep up with him.

"Palkia, I know he'd be around. I don't have any money to be giving him to take his precious Giratina out on another date," he said in an annoyed tone.

Honestly, Arceus wasn't asking us for money for the last few weeks and Dialga and I have seen him out and about with Giratina. But when he DID ask, it was really to take her out to a fancy restaurant, assuming there were no God discounts. But, the one thing I could say was that he loved Giratina very much and it seemed like she was enjoying him as well.

"Let's just worry about school? I'm pretty sure he's not going to ask us," I sighed.

As I followed Dialga, I can see our school about a couple of feet in front of us. I could see the big green sign right in front of the school, on the left side of the grass. Here it was: Foster's School for Legendary Pokemon. It was a small school with brick walls and a brown roof. It looked like your typical schoolhouse that you've seen in textbooks. As I said before, I dreaded going to school and I didn't want to come on Battle Day. However, I had to, since I had a perfect attendance record to maintain. I just hoped that today, my fist doesn't meet that girl's face.

Dialga let out a sigh of relief when we arrived at the school door. We walked inside the building, to a small classroom with blue walls, and an alphabet strip on the top of the black board. It also had green tables and chairs and the floor was lined with purple carpet. The other kids were laughing and talking amongst themselves as they were waiting for class to start. Our table was on the far left side of the room, in front of the bulletin board. Dialga squeezed my hand as he led me to our table.

We both pulled out our chairs next to each other and sat down to observe everything around us. We could see several kids talking to each other and some were even making paper airplanes and throwing them anywhere in the classroom. When I turned to Dialga, he lifted his arm as a motion for me to move closer to him. I moved my chair until he had enough room to put his arm around me. I honestly needed his comfort, especially for today. I know that the tormenting is going to begin, and his breath blowing on my face made it a little more relaxing in the moment.

"To be honest with you, I'm also dreading Battle Day," Dialga whispered.

"Why, Dialga? You're the strongest legendary in class! No, in the whole world!" I exclaimed.

I'm not trying to suck up to him, but, Dialga is actually a very strong legendary. In fact, according to the statistics, he's actually the fourth most powerful Pokemon in this world. His only counters are of course, Arceus, I mean he's GOD. He can beat everyone. However, at number two, came the great Gothitelle of the land, plus her little girl that's just too damn powerful. Other than them, Dialga was pretty much set. So why is he so worried about Battle Day?

"Thanks, Palks. I'm worried because my partner is Cobalion and yeah, Sacred Sword… yeah can't you see the DANGER?" he almost shouted.

"Dialga…" I started as I started to wrap my arms around him as if I was hugging him. "It's going to be okay. You're strong!"

Dialga took his free hand and tugged on a piece of my hair, repeating the process about five times. "Now I know I'll win, and it'd be because of you," he whispered.

As I closed my eyes to enjoy Dialga's company, I was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. The sound felt like it was coming near my table, and coming at a quick pace. Not only that, but I heard other footsteps coming near my table as well. I opened my eyes and saw a girl coming towards where I was. However, this wasn't just any girl; it was the bully. She flipped part of her long golden blonde hair to the back as she gave me a smirk on her face. The vertical yellow and pink stripes on her dress and her yellow moon shaped crown on her head, made her look taller and much tougher.

When I looked at her coming my way, all I could do was cower at her presence. She had an aura so strong; it felt like she was the deity she indeed was. I stood up as she finally approached me with her posse in tow, anticipating her torment.

"Hey, Palkia, guess what day it is?" she asked in a show-offy tone.

I just stood there, watching her flash her blue eyes as I tried to find the answer to her question. Deep down, I was afraid of her and it was very hard not to show it on the outside. I was shaking inside and looking around the room, for an answer.

"It's Battle Day, Cresselia. Not hard," Dialga answered.

She then folded her arms and glared at Dialga. "I believe, I was talking to her here, not you," she snapped as she pointed to me.

"Hey! You don't talk to Dialga that way! Show some respect!" I yelled as I almost got in her face. However, Dialga pulled me back a little.

"Well, _excuse me_, Palkia, but I am the goddess of the moon. Do you know what that means? That means that I'm more important than you and your boyfriend will ever be. So don't babble about respect," Cresselia snapped as she lowered one eyebrow. "Anyway, today is Battle Day, which marks the seventh time that I've beaten you this year. Better be ready."

I slammed my fists on the table so hard, that the whole class turned my way. Gasps could be heard. As much as I want to say that was embarrassing, I had to toughen up in this situation. I really wanted to give this girl a piece of my mind. At the same time, I was slipping my boots off. If I had to fight her, I want to be comfortable doing so.

"YOU better be ready, Cresselia, because I learned a new power that can kick your pretty butt!" I yelled.

"Oh really? BRING IT! Show me!" she yelled even louder.

As this time, I was shaking as I was standing. My legs were trembling the most. The more I wanted to rip her to shreds, the more I quaked. Cresselia was almost about to get herself a beatdown. She was treading on thin ice. I don't give a damn if she's a deity. It's not gonna stop me from teaching her a lesson. As soon as I was about to "show" her what I have by using my Roar of Time, Dialga began to speak.

"Hey, Cresselia, do us a favor, get over your damn self, and leave Palkia alone. Unless you want to eat a big fat time loop, I suggest you go away," Dialga yelled angrily as he put his arm in front of me and push me down to my chair.

Cresselia took one look at Dialga and then stared at me. She then motioned her friends to follow her back to their own table. It was cool and all but however, as she was leaving herself, I looked over her shoulder and glared at me. She then took her right hand and she put up her middle finger at me. To me, that was the biggest insult anyone can do and she was in for a rude awakening.

I sprang from my chair and began to run after her, with fumes in my eyes. As soon as I got to her, I grabbed her by her pretty blonde hair and yanked her towards me. At the moment, I felt as if I just blacked out. I know that I pulled on her hair so tight that I could feel parts of her hair falling off. I couldn't see what was it that was I doing to her; however I do know what I was actually doing by feeling. I was hitting her at a rapid pace, trying to strike her in her head. I also was trying to use my fingernails to scratch her, which I have missed her face and scratched her head instead.

As I was fighting, I could hear many things being said at once. In one ear, I could hear the other kids saying 'fight, fight, fight!' I could also hear screaming from some of the other kids as well. However most of the screaming came from Cresselia as I was trying to hurt her. In the other ear, I could hear my name being yelled out many times by Dialga, who, was trying to pry me away from the fight. I felt his strong hands on top of mine, trying to get me to stop pulling her hair. Inside, I really wanted to stop fighting, and it was mostly because of Dialga, however, I really wanted to teach this girl a lesson. That I may be weaker than her, but it doesn't give her the right to mess with me.

I could feel my hands slipping away from her hair and someone's arm, which I assume was Dialga's, holding me back. As I was trying to break out of his grasp, he wrapped both of his arms around my torso area and lifted me to go back five paces from where I was originally having this showdown. Right there and there, I felt secure enough to stop fidgeting and try to catch my breath.

"I got you, Palkia. You're gonna be alright," Dialga whispered.

I can feel him, once again, lifting me up; however, I felt that he was trying to bring me back to our table. This time, I didn't even try to struggle out of his grasp. In the moment, I felt very comfortable that way. Because I knew that he was trying to protect me from everything that was going on. To me, it feels like a blur to me. My eyes are open, but I felt like I wasn't really grasping everything that was going on. All I knew was that I was trying to hurt Cresselia… bad. I don't care to see if I have done the job or not. I just really wanted to get out of here and with Dialga by my side. I felt that I have gotten my point across to her and anyone else who chooses to mess with me.

As Dialga put me down on the ground, I turned to him, as he took off his chest plate, and wrapped my arms around him tightly and burying my head in his chest. I was letting my emotions out as Dialga rocked side to side, while having his arms tightly around me as well. While I was crying, I shouted his name a few times out of distress. As I was doing so, Dialga made shush noises to calm me down; however it was so hard to be calm at the moment. I was still in school, a place I didn't want to be at and just pulled another girl's hair. I finally looked up at Dialga and started to look into his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Dia. She provoked me," I said softly on the verge of tears.

He took his right hand and with the back of his hand, he rubbed it across my face, trying to dry my tears. "Everything's alright. Just know, Palkia that I will always protect you from getting hurt, whether it's physically or emotionally, alright?"

"Yes, Dialga," I said as I was beginning to calm down. I, once again, rested my head on his chest for comfort.

Then suddenly, I heard a familiar voice coming inside the building. However, I was just too exhausted from the events to lift my head to see who just came in. But, I could hear this person talking to the other students and what they were saying as well.

"Now what's going on here?" a woman's voice asked.

"Palkia pulled my hair! And then she hit me and scratched me!" Cresselia cried. She sounded like she was really in pain, however I really didn't care. I wanted to give the girl what she deserved.

"It's okay, Cress," I heard a guy's voice say to her. "She's a loser, that's all there is to it."

"Yeah," I heard a girl's voice say. "Everyone knows she's just jealous because you're better than her and you're pretty much the only deity in this class. Entei's right, she is a loser."

At that moment, I want to scream at them; however Dialga's strong arms were preventing me to do just that. His grip was too great, and plus his comfort was making it useless to want to backlash. However, it didn't stop him from wanting to give them a piece of his mind. I could feel him turning his body the other way as he began to speak.

"Hey! I don't give a damn what you think about her, but DO NOT disrespect Palkia that way in front of me, alright?" Dialga said in a stern voice. "She is the love of my life and she's NOT a loser. Cresselia was attacked because she provoked Palkia."

"I just want to get out of here!" I cried as I was clinging to Dialga even tighter.

I could feel him prying me off of him for a moment. At that moment, I took my hands and used them to cover my face and eyes to hide the embarrassment. I knew that after the comments made, the face of a loser shouldn't be shown. So I bowed my head down in shame, just waiting for Dialga to come back to me. I then felt the gentle pressure of his arm wrapped around me and his breath blowing on me. Ah, that comfortable feeling was coming back to me.

"Everything's going to be alright. Just close your eyes," Dialga whispered in my ear as I could feel his arm wrapping around my legs.

With all of his strength, he lifted me off the ground and held me tightly, so much so that I didn't feel the need to hold on to him. Plus, I was just too embarrassed to take my hands off my face. I could feel him walking; however I had no idea as to where he was taking me. All I knew was that he told me to keep my eyes closed and that everything was going to be alright. So I melted in to his arms and rested on his chest plate, waiting to know where he was going to take me.

/-\\\

"Okay, Palkia, you can open your eyes now," Dialga said.

I took my hands off of my face and opened my eyes. There, I laid eyes on the blue, diamond filled sky while feeling the motion of the cold waterbed underneath me. A smile stretched across my face when I realized that Dialga has brought me back home. I turned to my right and saw him sitting there on the bed beside me. As soon as I laid eyes on him, I quickly sat up on the bed, and with all of my might, moved closer to him.

"Dammit, Palkia! What are you doing?" he laughed as he saw that I managed to get on my knees.

I put both of my hands on his shoulders as I brought my left leg over him. As of now, I was sitting on top of him and a light blush came over my face. As for Dialga, his face was almost red as he slowly put his arms around me. I knew that both of us were digging the position we were in. I can see it on his face when he gave me a great big smile.

"You're so beautiful, Palkia. Did you know that?" Dialga asked softly.

I shook my head no as I blushed even more. At that point, I didn't know what to say to him. Every time he'd say that to me, I would be at loss for words. Even when we first met, I never understood why a guy as good looking as he was goes for a girl who wasn't society's vision of beautiful. So every time he'd tell me that, my heart rate would go up. I could actually feel a cold wind of confidence come over me as I smiled at him. However, I knew that I had to change the conversation or distract him.

"So… how did you get around to sneaking out of the school?" I asked while changing the subject and quietly reaching for his shirt. I softly tugged on the collar and began to unbutton the small buttons that were lined vertically on his shirt.

"Eh, I was quiet about it. The teach was talking with Cresselia and her friends, so I saw this as a perfect opportunity to escape. I stopped time around them and resumed it once I was out. I know I'll get written up for it, but I'll stand up to the man," he said with a smirk on his face. "Plus, I wanted to protect my Palkia."

"Mrs. Applebee… is not the man," I giggled cutely as I reached the last button on his shirt.

I finally got to unbutton the last button, which Dialga would complain that it's the hardest button to get to. All the while, he wasn't noticing what I was doing. I just smiled at him, while secretly admiring what I did.

"Hey, what is that?" I asked as I pointed to the top left of the dimension.

Dialga looked over in the direction that I pointed to look for what I was apparently talking about. While he took the bait, I took both ends of his shirt and I separated them, exposing his torso. After I did just that, I rested my head on his bare chest. Then, I could hear his heart beating at a normal pace as I melted on to him, taking in his sent.

"Uhh… _Palks?_" Dialga asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Thanks, Dialga, for everything," I murmured.

"No probs, Palkia. You don't need to thank me. I'm always there for you," he said as he took his hand and rubbed big circles on my back.

"I wish I can find out how to be strong though, since you won't teach me anymore time powers," I whispered.

Since Dialga told me he won't be teaching me my powers, I felt that my self-worth has been crushed. However, if I could find my own path to being a strong Pokemon, then maybe I can gain it back and some confidence as well. Maybe it could be something that Dialga could help me out with.

"You can Palkia. There are many ways in fact. You could read about strength or you can also talk to other Pokemon who are already strong and learn from them. Meaning someone other than me, of course," Dialga suggested. "Have you seen the list? Maybe you should talk to those who are higher up than you."

"You mean like the top-five strongest Pokemon of Unova?" I asked.

"… Yeah, that to. You could also ask them since they are the strongest," he said.

After hearing what he said, I thought it was a wonderful idea. If I talked to all of those Pokemon, maybe I could learn some new methods of strength, other than from Dialga. I mean he IS number four as is, and I know who is number one, two and three, however the person who is number five escapes me at the moment.

"Who's number five? I want to ask them all in order," I asked as I sat up.

"Number five is Latios, but be weary. Latios doesn't think highly of girls," Dialga said with a serious tone in his voice. 

The only time that I've met him face to face was when we were all at Blizzard Beach. That was the day that we ran into a troublesome little girl, who ultimately, caused us to almost get harmed. Yes, I remember Latios well, and I don't think he thinks highly of me as it is, but I was still going to talk to him. Plus, it only makes me stronger.

"Well, since schools not going to be out for a couple of hours, why don't we rest?" Dialga suggested as he slipped his shirt off his arms and threw it on the ground.

So with that, I rolled on to my side of the bed as I slipped off my dress and I lied there, next to Dialga. He then put his arms around me as he got out a book about time and temporal powers and starts reading it out loud to me. I then fell into a peaceful sleep…


	3. Chapter 3

Here I am, walking arm and arm with Dialga to school. I have always treaded going there and it was because every Tuesday was Battle Day and Battle Day was the day that we got paired up with someone, and we battle for a grade. Easy, right?

Wrong.

Especially since your battle partner is a pretty blonde haired, Barbie-looking bully who always picks on you for being weaker. Month after month, she always beats me, and then gloats about it, saying that she's better and that she's stronger. Well, she IS stronger, considering that she always beats me with her psychic attacks but she just provokes me to the point where I want to hit her in her pretty little face.

"Righty then, we need to hurry up to school before Arceus hits me up for money," Dialga said as he grabbed my hand and ran.

"Wait! What makes you think he would be around?" I asked while I tried to keep up with him.

"Palkia, I know he'd be around. I don't have any money to be giving him to take his precious Giratina out on another date," he said in an annoyed tone.

Honestly, Arceus wasn't asking us for money for the last few weeks and Dialga and I have seen him out and about with Giratina. But when he DID ask, it was really to take her out to a fancy restaurant, assuming there were no God discounts. But, the one thing I could say was that he loved Giratina very much and it seemed like she was enjoying him as well.

"Let's just worry about school? I'm pretty sure he's not going to ask us," I sighed.

As I followed Dialga, I can see our school about a couple of feet in front of us. I could see the big green sign right in front of the school, on the left side of the grass. Here it was: Foster's School for Legendary Pokemon. It was a small school with brick walls and a brown roof. It looked like your typical schoolhouse that you've seen in textbooks. As I said before, I dreaded going to school and I didn't want to come on Battle Day. However, I had to, since I had a perfect attendance record to maintain. I just hoped that today, my fist doesn't meet that girl's face.

Dialga let out a sigh of relief when we arrived at the school door. We walked inside the building, to a small classroom with blue walls, and an alphabet strip on the top of the black board. It also had green tables and chairs and the floor was lined with purple carpet. The other kids were laughing and talking amongst themselves as they were waiting for class to start. Our table was on the far left side of the room, in front of the bulletin board. Dialga squeezed my hand as he led me to our table.

We both pulled out our chairs next to each other and sat down to observe everything around us. We could see several kids talking to each other and some were even making paper airplanes and throwing them anywhere in the classroom. When I turned to Dialga, he lifted his arm as a motion for me to move closer to him. I moved my chair until he had enough room to put his arm around me. I honestly needed his comfort, especially for today. I know that the tormenting is going to begin, and his breath blowing on my face made it a little more relaxing in the moment.

"To be honest with you, I'm also dreading Battle Day," Dialga whispered.

"Why, Dialga? You're the strongest legendary in class! No, in the whole world!" I exclaimed.

I'm not trying to suck up to him, but, Dialga is actually a very strong legendary. In fact, according to the statistics, he's actually the fourth most powerful Pokemon in this world. His only counters are of course, Arceus, I mean he's GOD. He can beat everyone. However, at number two, came the great Gothitelle of the land, plus her little girl that's just too damn powerful. Other than them, Dialga was pretty much set. So why is he so worried about Battle Day?

"Thanks, Palks. I'm worried because my partner is Cobalion and yeah, Sacred Sword… yeah can't you see the DANGER?" he almost shouted.

"Dialga…" I started as I started to wrap my arms around him as if I was hugging him. "It's going to be okay. You're strong!"

Dialga took his free hand and tugged on a piece of my hair, repeating the process about five times. "Now I know I'll win, and it'd be because of you," he whispered.

As I closed my eyes to enjoy Dialga's company, I was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. The sound felt like it was coming near my table, and coming at a quick pace. Not only that, but I heard other footsteps coming near my table as well. I opened my eyes and saw a girl coming towards where I was. However, this wasn't just any girl; it was the bully. She flipped part of her long golden blonde hair to the back as she gave me a smirk on her face. The vertical yellow and pink stripes on her dress and her yellow moon shaped crown on her head, made her look taller and much tougher.

When I looked at her coming my way, all I could do was cower at her presence. She had an aura so strong; it felt like she was the deity she indeed was. I stood up as she finally approached me with her posse in tow, anticipating her torment.

"Hey, Palkia, guess what day it is?" she asked in a show-offy tone.

I just stood there, watching her flash her blue eyes as I tried to find the answer to her question. Deep down, I was afraid of her and it was very hard not to show it on the outside. I was shaking inside and looking around the room, for an answer.

"It's Battle Day, Cresselia. Not hard," Dialga answered.

She then folded her arms and glared at Dialga. "I believe, I was talking to her here, not you," she snapped as she pointed to me.

"Hey! You don't talk to Dialga that way! Show some respect!" I yelled as I almost got in her face. However, Dialga pulled me back a little.

"Well, _excuse me_, Palkia, but I am the goddess of the moon. Do you know what that means? That means that I'm more important than you and your boyfriend will ever be. So don't babble about respect," Cresselia snapped as she lowered one eyebrow. "Anyway, today is Battle Day, which marks the seventh time that I've beaten you this year. Better be ready."

I slammed my fists on the table so hard, that the whole class turned my way. Gasps could be heard. As much as I want to say that was embarrassing, I had to toughen up in this situation. I really wanted to give this girl a piece of my mind. At the same time, I was slipping my boots off. If I had to fight her, I want to be comfortable doing so.

"YOU better be ready, Cresselia, because I learned a new power that can kick your pretty butt!" I yelled.

"Oh really? BRING IT! Show me!" she yelled even louder.

As this time, I was shaking as I was standing. My legs were trembling the most. The more I wanted to rip her to shreds, the more I quaked. Cresselia was almost about to get herself a beatdown. She was treading on thin ice. I don't give a damn if she's a deity. It's not gonna stop me from teaching her a lesson. As soon as I was about to "show" her what I have by using my Roar of Time, Dialga began to speak.

"Hey, Cresselia, do us a favor, get over your damn self, and leave Palkia alone. Unless you want to eat a big fat time loop, I suggest you go away," Dialga yelled angrily as he put his arm in front of me and push me down to my chair.

Cresselia took one look at Dialga and then stared at me. She then motioned her friends to follow her back to their own table. It was cool and all but however, as she was leaving herself, I looked over her shoulder and glared at me. She then took her right hand and she put up her middle finger at me. To me, that was the biggest insult anyone can do and she was in for a rude awakening.

I sprang from my chair and began to run after her, with fumes in my eyes. As soon as I got to her, I grabbed her by her pretty blonde hair and yanked her towards me. At the moment, I felt as if I just blacked out. I know that I pulled on her hair so tight that I could feel parts of her hair falling off. I couldn't see what was it that was I doing to her; however I do know what I was actually doing by feeling. I was hitting her at a rapid pace, trying to strike her in her head. I also was trying to use my fingernails to scratch her, which I have missed her face and scratched her head instead.

As I was fighting, I could hear many things being said at once. In one ear, I could hear the other kids saying 'fight, fight, fight!' I could also hear screaming from some of the other kids as well. However most of the screaming came from Cresselia as I was trying to hurt her. In the other ear, I could hear my name being yelled out many times by Dialga, who, was trying to pry me away from the fight. I felt his strong hands on top of mine, trying to get me to stop pulling her hair. Inside, I really wanted to stop fighting, and it was mostly because of Dialga, however, I really wanted to teach this girl a lesson. That I may be weaker than her, but it doesn't give her the right to mess with me.

I could feel my hands slipping away from her hair and someone's arm, which I assume was Dialga's, holding me back. As I was trying to break out of his grasp, he wrapped both of his arms around my torso area and lifted me to go back five paces from where I was originally having this showdown. Right there and there, I felt secure enough to stop fidgeting and try to catch my breath.

"I got you, Palkia. You're gonna be alright," Dialga whispered.

I can feel him, once again, lifting me up; however, I felt that he was trying to bring me back to our table. This time, I didn't even try to struggle out of his grasp. In the moment, I felt very comfortable that way. Because I knew that he was trying to protect me from everything that was going on. To me, it feels like a blur to me. My eyes are open, but I felt like I wasn't really grasping everything that was going on. All I knew was that I was trying to hurt Cresselia… bad. I don't care to see if I have done the job or not. I just really wanted to get out of here and with Dialga by my side. I felt that I have gotten my point across to her and anyone else who chooses to mess with me.

As Dialga put me down on the ground, I turned to him, as he took off his chest plate, and wrapped my arms around him tightly and burying my head in his chest. I was letting my emotions out as Dialga rocked side to side, while having his arms tightly around me as well. While I was crying, I shouted his name a few times out of distress. As I was doing so, Dialga made shush noises to calm me down; however it was so hard to be calm at the moment. I was still in school, a place I didn't want to be at and just pulled another girl's hair. I finally looked up at Dialga and started to look into his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Dia. She provoked me," I said softly on the verge of tears.

He took his right hand and with the back of his hand, he rubbed it across my face, trying to dry my tears. "Everything's alright. Just know, Palkia that I will always protect you from getting hurt, whether it's physically or emotionally, alright?"

"Yes, Dialga," I said as I was beginning to calm down. I, once again, rested my head on his chest for comfort.

Then suddenly, I heard a familiar voice coming inside the building. However, I was just too exhausted from the events to lift my head to see who just came in. But, I could hear this person talking to the other students and what they were saying as well.

"Now what's going on here?" a woman's voice asked.

"Palkia pulled my hair! And then she hit me and scratched me!" Cresselia cried. She sounded like she was really in pain, however I really didn't care. I wanted to give the girl what she deserved.

"It's okay, Cress," I heard a guy's voice say to her. "She's a loser, that's all there is to it."

"Yeah," I heard a girl's voice say. "Everyone knows she's just jealous because you're better than her and you're pretty much the only deity in this class. Entei's right, she is a loser."

At that moment, I want to scream at them; however Dialga's strong arms were preventing me to do just that. His grip was too great, and plus his comfort was making it useless to want to backlash. However, it didn't stop him from wanting to give them a piece of his mind. I could feel him turning his body the other way as he began to speak.

"Hey! I don't give a damn what you think about her, but DO NOT disrespect Palkia that way in front of me, alright?" Dialga said in a stern voice. "She is the love of my life and she's NOT a loser. Cresselia was attacked because she provoked Palkia."

"I just want to get out of here!" I cried as I was clinging to Dialga even tighter.

I could feel him prying me off of him for a moment. At that moment, I took my hands and used them to cover my face and eyes to hide the embarrassment. I knew that after the comments made, the face of a loser shouldn't be shown. So I bowed my head down in shame, just waiting for Dialga to come back to me. I then felt the gentle pressure of his arm wrapped around me and his breath blowing on me. Ah, that comfortable feeling was coming back to me.

"Everything's going to be alright. Just close your eyes," Dialga whispered in my ear as I could feel his arm wrapping around my legs.

With all of his strength, he lifted me off the ground and held me tightly, so much so that I didn't feel the need to hold on to him. Plus, I was just too embarrassed to take my hands off my face. I could feel him walking; however I had no idea as to where he was taking me. All I knew was that he told me to keep my eyes closed and that everything was going to be alright. So I melted in to his arms and rested on his chest plate, waiting to know where he was going to take me.

/-\\\

"Okay, Palkia, you can open your eyes now," Dialga said.

I took my hands off of my face and opened my eyes. There, I laid eyes on the blue, diamond filled sky while feeling the motion of the cold waterbed underneath me. A smile stretched across my face when I realized that Dialga has brought me back home. I turned to my right and saw him sitting there on the bed beside me. As soon as I laid eyes on him, I quickly sat up on the bed, and with all of my might, moved closer to him.

"Dammit, Palkia! What are you doing?" he laughed as he saw that I managed to get on my knees.

I put both of my hands on his shoulders as I brought my left leg over him. As of now, I was sitting on top of him and a light blush came over my face. As for Dialga, his face was almost red as he slowly put his arms around me. I knew that both of us were digging the position we were in. I can see it on his face when he gave me a great big smile.

"You're so beautiful, Palkia. Did you know that?" Dialga asked softly.

I shook my head no as I blushed even more. At that point, I didn't know what to say to him. Every time he'd say that to me, I would be at loss for words. Even when we first met, I never understood why a guy as good looking as he was goes for a girl who wasn't society's vision of beautiful. So every time he'd tell me that, my heart rate would go up. I could actually feel a cold wind of confidence come over me as I smiled at him. However, I knew that I had to change the conversation or distract him.

"So… how did you get around to sneaking out of the school?" I asked while changing the subject and quietly reaching for his shirt. I softly tugged on the collar and began to unbutton the small buttons that were lined vertically on his shirt.

"Eh, I was quiet about it. The teach was talking with Cresselia and her friends, so I saw this as a perfect opportunity to escape. I stopped time around them and resumed it once I was out. I know I'll get written up for it, but I'll stand up to the man," he said with a smirk on his face. "Plus, I wanted to protect my Palkia."

"Mrs. Applebee… is not the man," I giggled cutely as I reached the last button on his shirt.

I finally got to unbutton the last button, which Dialga would complain that it's the hardest button to get to. All the while, he wasn't noticing what I was doing. I just smiled at him, while secretly admiring what I did.

"Hey, what is that?" I asked as I pointed to the top left of the dimension.

Dialga looked over in the direction that I pointed to look for what I was apparently talking about. While he took the bait, I took both ends of his shirt and I separated them, exposing his torso. After I did just that, I rested my head on his bare chest. Then, I could hear his heart beating at a normal pace as I melted on to him, taking in his sent.

"Uhh… _Palks?_" Dialga asked somewhat hesitantly.

"Thanks, Dialga, for everything," I murmured.

"No probs, Palkia. You don't need to thank me. I'm always there for you," he said as he took his hand and rubbed big circles on my back.

"I wish I can find out how to be strong though, since you won't teach me anymore time powers," I whispered.

Since Dialga told me he won't be teaching me my powers, I felt that my self-worth has been crushed. However, if I could find my own path to being a strong Pokemon, then maybe I can gain it back and some confidence as well. Maybe it could be something that Dialga could help me out with.

"You can Palkia. There are many ways in fact. You could read about strength or you can also talk to other Pokemon who are already strong and learn from them. Meaning someone other than me, of course," Dialga suggested. "Have you seen the list? Maybe you should talk to those who are higher up than you."

"You mean like the top-five strongest Pokemon of Unova?" I asked.

"… Yeah, that to. You could also ask them since they are the strongest," he said.

After hearing what he said, I thought it was a wonderful idea. If I talked to all of those Pokemon, maybe I could learn some new methods of strength, other than from Dialga. I mean he IS number four as is, and I know who is number one, two and three, however the person who is number five escapes me at the moment.

"Who's number five? I want to ask them all in order," I asked as I sat up.

"Number five is Latios, but be weary. Latios doesn't think highly of girls," Dialga said with a serious tone in his voice. 

The only time that I've met him face to face was when we were all at Blizzard Beach. That was the day that we ran into a troublesome little girl, who ultimately, caused us to almost get harmed. Yes, I remember Latios well, and I don't think he thinks highly of me as it is, but I was still going to talk to him. Plus, it only makes me stronger.

"Well, since schools not going to be out for a couple of hours, why don't we rest?" Dialga suggested as he slipped his shirt off his arms and threw it on the ground.

So with that, I rolled on to my side of the bed as I slipped off my dress and I lied there, next to Dialga. He then put his arms around me as he got out a book about time and temporal powers and starts reading it out loud to me. I then fell into a peaceful sleep…


	4. Chapter 4

Many hours have passed since I rested. When I woke up, I quickly put my dress on, grabbed my pad and pen and my make-up pouch and went out the door, ready to begin my quest to become a stronger Pokemon. Many thought were running through my mind as I was walking to my first destination. I often wondered what kind of advice I was going to get and how I would use that to my advantage. I wanted to make sure that I listen to what everyone has to tell me and I look over the notes carefully.

I soon arrive at my first destination: Latios' house. When I rang the doorbell, so many thoughts were running through my mind. I wondered if Latios would even consider talking to me. Dialga's words kept repeating itself in my head: _Latios doesn't think highly of girls._ I was honestly afraid that he would not tell me how I could become as strong. Not only was he three years older than me and was a foot and six inches taller than me, but he was also five times powerful than I am.

This was part of the reason as to why I told Dialga not to come with me. Because for this particular visit, I wanted to show Latios that I could take him on by myself; that I could handle his opinions without Dialga always jumping to my rescue. I just want this guy to actually respect me instead of seeing me as just another fragile female Pokemon who's weaker. Plus, I wanted to take this journey myself. I wanted to find the path of strength on my own, since this was about finding what makes ME strong.

As I stood outside the door, it finally opened. At the door, stood a young, fragile little girl with long pinkish-reddish hair and an old school styled dress that was red, had a white sash and had puffy sleeves with blue triangles on them. This happened to be a little girl that I really did not like. However, I had to be nice to her since she and Dialga and the rest of our group are good friends.

"Hey, Latias, is Latios here?" I asked politely while trying to hide my dislike for this girl.

"Yes, but I cannot get him to the door," she whispered. "You see, I'm grounded, and I can't let Latios know that I'm out of my room."

"But can't Latios hear the doorbell from here?" I asked.

After I asked that question, she looked down at the ground with such shame. I sensed that in her mind, she knew that Latios could hear the doorbell ringing, and with her at the door, it would give it away that she was disobeying him, again. This was pretty much the reason why I disliked Latias. It was because I found her to be rude, disrespectful and she thinks she's all that and a bag of chips. Dialga thinks she's an angel however, based on what happened with us on the beach, I see differently.

"… and what do we have here?" a familiar male voice said from the background.

Through the door, I could see him coming towards us. He was a very tall guy, indeed. His blue hair was cut short, he was as tan as a wooden table, he had a dark blue sweatshirt with an red triangle in the middle and his light blue pants made him not only taller, but leaner. He glared at Latias as she turned to him and froze. She was so busted.

"Go to the kitchen," he ordered with not a lot of emotion in his voice.

Latias started to walk to the kitchen. As she was doing that, he slowly walked over to the doorway. From that moment, I was shaking in my boots. He gave me a smirk and narrowed his eyes at me. I was, in a way, afraid of him. When he stood at the doorway, I felt as if he was staring me down. I really didn't want to look him in the eye, but since I am here to ask him some questions but out of respect for him, I managed to look him in his dark red eyes.

"What do you need?" he asked in a voice that sounds as if he was annoyed. "If you're here to play with Latias, then you came at the wrong time. She's grounded."

"Actually Latios, I came to talk with you," I said while trying to hide that I was shaking.

Latios raised an eyebrow when he heard that I was here to talk to him. With his eyes, he double-took twice. "Hm…"

"Talk about what?" Latios asked.

"I want to talk with you about strength. About what could I do to make myself stronger," I replied while avoiding giving him a long story. "Basically, I need your advice."

He then stood up taller as he crossed his arms and let out a light chuckle. I was pretty sure that he was laughing at the idea of me wanting to seek his advice on how to be strong, especially from what after Dialga told me about him. If a dainty girl such as myself came up to someone who was respected because of their place on the list, then I would be laughing as well. I don't blame Latios for laughing.

"Oh that's cute! You want to seek my advice, huh?" Latios asked while still chuckling lightly. "Okay, girl, I can do that, but know that I have strong opinions and I never hold back."

"First off, my name is Palkia and second, I'm strong enough to hear your opinions. Plus it will only make me stronger," I said in an annoyed tone.

Sorry, but I just hate it when he doesn't remember my name. Calling me 'girl' was pretty much taking away my identity; a blow to my self-confidence. Plus, from our first encounter and now that he talks to Dialga somewhat, he should know my name. I am strong enough to hear what he says to me. I promised myself that I would not cry if he says something I didn't like. Like I said before, this was part of the reason why I told Dialga not to come. Because in this situation, him defending me would make me look bad in Latios' eyes.

"Very well then, _Palkia_, come in and sit at the table," Latios rolled his eyes as he lead me into the house and into the kitchen.

After closing the door behind me, I followed him through the rather small living area and into the decent sized kitchen. The kitchen had a bar-like table in the front. From there, Latios pointed to the table as a motion for me to sit there. I went over and grabbed a stool and sat down at the table, with my pen and pad ready to take his notes. Latios went around the bar table and looked straight at his little sister, who was standing there waiting for him. I guess that he wants to have a talk with Latias first before talking to me.

"Alright Latias, you were grounded for what?" Latios asked while crossing his arms.

"For drawing on the walls," she answered in her normal soft tone.

"… and what do you do?" he said in a stern tone. "You disobeyed my orders. I told you to stay in your room."

Latios just stood there, glaring at his little sister. I looked to my left and I saw where the young girl had made her marks. The wall had all kinds of crayon marks all over it. There were also some faded marks as well, so this might not be the first time she's done this. There was also a pail of water right by it. I was assuming that he was getting ready to scrub the walls until either I came or he went off somewhere and now he had to deal with me. Either way, Latios looked like he was extremely stressed out.

"Go to your room," he ordered.

However, this time, she actually did what she was ordered to do without hesitation or back talk. She walked, with her nose up in the air, to her room and slammed the door. I know that if Dialga were here, she would be defiant about the whole thing, but since he's not here to protect her, it's a whole different story. All I was doing at the moment was just letting Latios' accent flow in my ears. He then turned to me and began to lean on the bar table.

"Okay, what do you want to ask me?" he asked as he stared at me.

"I need you to give me advice on how to become as strong as you all," I said as I readied my pen.

"Here it goes. You can become strong, Palkia. However, you can never become as strong as Dialga, or me," Latios said. "I don't think you'll even be top ten worthy."

I could never become as strong as Latios or Dialga? Why not? This was a question that was racing through my head as soon as I heard him say that. If I'm not at least as strong as those two respected guys or the guys in the top ten, then I'm not strong at all and still in the bottom with most of the girls that I did not like. Some of the girls there were strong, but then some of them were very annoying to me.

"Why do you say that?" I said in my neutral voice.

"Well, Palkia it's simple. Biologically, men are stronger than women when it comes to combat. We have more, say experience when it comes to battle and strength," Latios explained. "You go to the legendary school right? When you do the history course, they tell you about all those men who give their lives for Unova to become how it was. Same with the region, I originally came from. In Johto, they teach us the same thing."

He's right; most of the Pokemon and humans I have seen in ancient battles have been men. I knew that from last year's Men's History assignment I had to do. Most of the Pokemon listed in the top ten are male. However, there were females at the top as well. Giratina was number ten and then we got Gothitelle and Gothorita, _a seven year old girl_, who were number two and three. Remarkable huh? A girl, same age as Latias and two inches shorter than her, could beat out, comparatively, a big and powerful guy such as Dialga and an intelligent and powerful guy such as Latios. Those girls ARE strong. Especially, Gothitelle; man that woman can kick butt, and after my meeting here, I would love to just know how she got to be so strong.

"There is truth to what you are saying, however, why are girls like Gothitelle and her kid stronger than most of the males? The only male that beats them is Arceus. If they could strong, can't I be strong?" I asked as I wrote that all down. "Giratina is also number ten on the list and her kid is only a notch below her. I know there can be hope for me. Is there any advice as to how **I**, can be stronger?"

Latios paused for a moment at my question. When I looked at him, it appeared as if he couldn't find an explanation as to why those girls are strong.

"Yes there is. You need to become strong as a person first. You, Palkia aren't very strong as a person. I can tell from when you rely on Dialga for everything. Even for him to protect you from what I say to you. My point is that you need to stop being reliant on men to do your work and do it yourself," he explained.

As I wrote that down, I got to thinking; he's right. I do rely on Dialga for a lot of things, even for powers that I can use to mask my own. I never really thought of it as making him do my work though.

"Are you saying that I rely on him too much?" I asked.

"Yes, and you need to learn how to do things for yourself. This is the reason why I don't like you; it's because you're one of those girls who cling to a man and make them do all the work. You want Dialga to be the one who jumps in to protect you from every little thing. I remember when we were on the beach, you know. You need to learn how to suck it up, Palkia," Latios said. "Believe it or not, Palkia, women CAN think for themselves."

After I wrote that all down I closed my pad and stood up from the bar table. "Thanks, Latios, for taking the time to answer my questions," I said.

"Welcome. I just want to tell you this, and this is something I hardly tell a girl unless they are worthy of me telling them. You have potential, Palkia. You really do, and I can see it in you. If you are strong enough, I'd like to challenge you to battle me. How does that sound?" He asked as he flashed a smile.

A light blush spread across my face as I tried not to look at him. Me? Have potential? Coming from a guy who doesn't think highly of girls? That was a HUGE compliment, at least to me. I couldn't help but smile. I think he's said this to a few girls but to think I, Palkia, could be one of those girls was a rewarding feeling.

"Yes, I'd love to. Thank you for the complement," I said as I was avoiding becoming emotional.

As I stared to walk out the door on to my next destination, I heard him call out to me one last time.

"Palkia, is your next stop going to be Gothitelle's laboratory?" Latios asked.

"Yes, how come?" I asked him.

"I'll be coming by there so you might run into me again," he chuckled.


	5. Chapter 5

During my long walk from Latios' house, I finally came across the laboratory. From a distance, it looked like a huge white one story building, with gates built around it on the sides. However, it had no gate on the front of the building. In the front, it looked like an ordinary home, but inside, it was a different story. Believe me, it was almost like a mansion adorned with machinery. It was pretty huge alright and it also had a battle school in the back if I remembered the last time I visited.

As I walked up to the door and knocked, I was thinking of the many things Latios was saying to me. I felt flattered that he felt that I could be strong and that I had potential, but to never be in the top ten saddens me. Mainly because that was one of my goals for when I became stronger; secure a place amongst the top ten strongest Pokemon. Problem is that there was truth to what Latios told me. Most of everyone on the top ten was male. There were only three females on the list; and two of them were much respected females to boot. One of them, well I should say two; I'm waiting to ask right about now. Also, maybe I could talk to the other League members.

I stood there, just reading over my notes I jotted down from Latios until, the door started to open. I looked, and there stood this girl, a tall girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, lightly tanned skin and was sporting a blue bikini. This girl looked a lot like Cresselia; however this girl happened to be prettier. Her back length blonde hair, which was curly, was lighter and so was her tan to a point that it looked perfect. She was also taller as well, model tall to be exact. In fact, while looking at this girl, I swore I've seen her on a cover of Teen Pokemon, where she posed with Giratina, the young one.

"Oh, hello… ummm…" I said as I was trying to remember her name. It's there but I can't wrap my tongue around it.

"Milotic… the name's Milotic if that's what you're trying to figure out," she said in her normal English accent.

Bingo! That's the one; this is the girl who posed with Giratina on the Teen Pokemon cover. Man, you have to be pretty darn good looking to be in that magazine let alone be on the cover. Not only that, but this girl had been trying to get with the love of my life before, even when I was right there. She eventually stopped but now she's after another man, using her fem charm and her body. Which to say, I envy so much. I wish that could be me, with the perfect figure, getting all the guys' attention.

"Oh.., my bad, I forgot," I said as I rolled my eyes at her.

"Seriously, Palkia, how could you NOT know who I am?" Milotic smirked as she twirled a piece of her platinum blonde hair.

"Whatever," I scoffed.

Not to be rude but sometimes the way she presents herself comes off as very annoying. She's always bragging about how beautiful she is and how she is well known. It gets very aggravating and it makes me feel even worse about myself. It makes me feel uglier and worthless by the minute and it's because I could never be as beautiful or popular as she is.

"Sorry, Milotic but do you know if Gothitelle is around? I came to see her," I said while playing with my pen.

"She's here, but she's out back. However, I don't think she'd mind if there was another visitor…" she replied. "Just follow me in."

I followed Milotic inside the house, down the long hallway adorned with family and team photos on the walls. At the end, I could see a huge, circular, white dining table in the kitchen area. When I stepped into the kitchen, I could also see the laboratory on the left side. The kitchen itself was rather plain. There were no patterns or color; just plain white and clean spaces. To my right was the living room which was also as plain and big as the kitchen. Yet more interesting because when others come over, they usually watch TV on the big screen, play video games or play board games.

Sitting at the table was a cream colored haired young man. He sported parts of his hair in a rather spikey fashion, which bears a resemblance to icicles. He also had a plain light blue sweater and off-white pants. Despite this guy being an ice type, he was relatively tan for this typing. Normally, they would be almost as pale as I was, so it always amazes me as to how he would develop a light color that was almost similar to what Milotic had.

"Hey, Milotic, what about our battle?" the young man asked as he gave her a smirk. "Don't leave me hanging, girl."

"I had to answer the door here," she said as she smoothed her hair and went over to him. He made some room for her on his seat as she went over and sat right next to him.

"Oh! Hey Palkia!" he said as he noticed that I was there. "Please, have a seat."

I pulled up a chair and sat down, across from the two. Milotic was hanging on the man's arm while leaning on him and he was busy doing something on his P-Phone. Just looking at them, they seemed like a couple, though, they really weren't. Nonetheless, I waited with my pad and pen, still looking over my notes. However, then I looked at the pair once again, I had an idea. I could ask _them_ for _their _take on becoming strong. Yes... even Milotic. I think she's more than just a perfect figure, but also powerful. I mean, Cresselia is a beautiful girl as well and she's powerful.

"Hey guys," I asked. "How do you guys become so strong?"

"Well… I don't know how she becomes strong, but with me, I just practice my powers every day," he said. "Oh and by the way, Milotic, can you please not hang on my arm? I'm a little uncomfortable."

_'Practice every day…' _I thought to myself as I wrote that down on a clean piece of pad paper. Well I do practice my powers, but not every day. Maybe this could be something I could work on. The more practice I have, the more I can accomplish with my even worthless powers.

"Well… practicing, yes but if Vanilluxe was right about one thing, it's that he doesn't know how I became stronger," Milotic smirked as she lets go of his arm. "Anyway, pageants aren't just about your looks, but it's also about your powers. Judges pretty much score you based on the way you carry yourself during a battle."

"Wait… you battle… _other beauty pageant contestants?_" Vanilluxe asked.

"Yep, we do. I've won each and every one of them," she bragged.

Wow, even pageant contestants are very powerful, which makes me even more envious. They are beautiful and powerful, two things I could dream of being. Trust me, if I were both, I would be the happiest girl in the world, seriously. Maybe in the future I'd ask Milotic how she got to look the way she does.

"I see. Anyway, what about your battle? Maybe I could get some inspiration from your brawl," I suggested as I put down my pen.

"Actually, Palkia that's great, but I was wondering if you could be our referee for this fight," Vanilluxe suggested.

You know, that's not a bad idea. If I observe their fight, maybe I could get a better understanding of not only how to battle but on how to be stronger. "Sure!" I exclaimed as I stood up with my pad and pen, flipping to a new page.

They also stood up from their seat as well, distancing themselves about five feet apart. I came a little bit closer to the middle to call the fight. I raised my hand as I started to call it:

"Ready… set… battle!" I exclaimed.

As soon as my hand went down, the battle began.

"I'm gonna get so hard to beat in this battle," the cream haired man bragged as he licked his lips in a mocking manor.

"Oh really?" Milotic giggled.

"Yep," Vanilluxe chuckled. "Let's get this on!"

For her first attack, Milotic bent over and blew an endearing kiss at her opponent. She also flashed her piercing blue eyes at him, making sure that, in the moment, they met his piercing gray eyes. It may not seem like much of a strategy, however, Captivate causes the foe of the opposite gender to let their guard down. So in the process, their special attacks get weaker by two stages. When I looked at her foe, it seemed as if he could feel himself getting weaker by the minute. He just stood there, looking at the pretty teenage girl as if he was in love with her.

Vanilluxe then tore his gaze off the girl and retaliates by using a physical attack, which was smart on his end. He used Ice Shard, where his fingers were starting to transform into long dull icicles. He then swiped his hands at his feisty opponent, scratching her face. Though it looked like it would hurt a lot, backed by the fact that she doesn't have a great physical defense, the attack didn't do much damage due to Milotic being a water type and ice type moves are not so effective on those types.

The blonde haired girl then narrowed her blue eyes as she stuck her right hand right in front of her, trying hard to focus directly on her target. When she did that, she summoned a huge stream of water, from it, so powerful that it knocked her ice type opponent into the table. Hydro Pump was indeed a powerful move. Since water type attacks do neutral damage to an ice type; it got rid of more than half his battle energy.

"Oh yea? Two can play that game!" the agitated young man said as he got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

He then raised his arms for a few seconds in a high V and then lowered them. Vanilluxe narrowed his eyes as he stared at Milotic hard. All of a sudden, this cold wind picks up from inside the house, wrapping a bit itself around his opponent. I could see a whole mess of snow being carried over by the winds, making itself into a blizzard. As of now, the whole kitchen was covered with about an inch of snow. The wind stopped; however, I could see that Milotic was freezing. I felt bad for her because she as only wearing a bathing suit and having to deal with the snow. Though the Blizzard attack's power was very high, it left a little bit of energy on her part. Had Milotic not used Captivate on her first turn, she would have been history. Smart thinking.

"V-v-v-very f-f-f-funny!" she yelled as she was shivering.

Milotic was so cold, that she couldn't think of what attack to do next. At any rate, it looked like she's got him. I mean, Vanilluxe had less of his HP left, and if her next attack was one that could do neutral damage, he's done for. As she was trying to figure out what to do for her finishing blow, we could hear heels clicking at a fast rate, followed by an angry woman's voice coming closer to the kitchen.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" a familiar voice asked as it made its way to where we were standing.

We all looked toward the hallway and see a woman, looking very angry. She stood there with her arms crossed, narrowing her aqua eyes at Vanilluxe. This girl was very… curvatious to say. She was thin, but she wasn't pageant thin. She was dressed in black, had a somewhat short black t-shirt on along with black pants with her chained weapon wrapped around her hips as a belt. Her black hair was about mid back length and a small part of it was tied with a white bow. This girl was gorgeous, but she was so intimidating, that all I could do was cower at her presence.

"I've told you guys many, many times not to have battles in the house!" she yelled out in a stern voice.

"But, I managed to get the Blizzard to only happen _in the kitchen_," Vanilluxe said in a voice that sounded like he was aggravated. "I didn't get any of your machinery."

"Still, I've said no battles in the house, Vanilluxe. I've said it _many times but you don't listen_," she retorted.

He came closer to the upset female and wrapped his arms around her, while giving her a kiss on her forehead. "… and I apologize," he started to say. "I promise you, Gothitelle that I will clean up ALL the snow from the kitchen."

"Hm… very well then. I shall leave you to your devices," Gothitelle said as she started to leave out the hallway.

However, before she could do that, I quickly got up from there I was crouching and proceeded to call out to her. "Hey wait!" I yelled. I could hear the door opening and closing, however, I was a bit too excited about the events to check out who it was.

She turned around and looked me right in the eye. "For future reference, I have a name and I suggest you use it. Now, what can I do for you, Palkia?"

"Oh, sorry Gothitelle. I need your advice. You see, I'm on a personal mission to ask all the Pokemon in the top five how they become stronger. I've already asked one of them, so my next stop was you since I already have Dialga," I replied as I put my notes on the table.

"Well Palkia I can guide you, as long as you know that the journey is yours to take. Right now, I have to finish up my work but when I come back, I will help you," Gothitelle said as she shook her head and left.

All I could do is smile, because now I'll be able to get some information from one of the greatest fighters of all time. I began to collect all kinds of questions in my mind. Such as: how do you become so strong? Or, what are the best powers to have? Maybe, an important one would be: as a girl, how did you get to be stronger than most of the guys? So many questions in my head, but, seeing that Gothitelle was a very important and busy woman, I won't bombard her with my childish questions.

"So, anyone want to help an old coot clean up some snow?" Vanilluxe asked as he got out a shovel.

I'll think if smart questions to ask her, after I help Vanilluxe and Milotic clean up the snow.


	6. Chapter 6

Wow, if I thought that cleaning up all that snow was easy… I was dead wrong. There was over an inch of snow in this rather small kitchen and picking it up and putting it outside was very hard work. I sat at the table, exhausted and out of breath as I tried to reach for my notes. However, they weren't on the table at all. I frantically scanned the top of the table and rummaging through papers for my note pad, but there was no cigar.

"Where's my notes?" I whined as I almost started to cry.

Those notes were very important to not only my mission but to my self-confidence. They had everything I've jotted down so far from Latios and I'm going to need to study them along other notes I'd write in the future. In short, I need them to become stronger. When I realized that the key to my path to self-confidence could be missing, I started to cry. However, that was interrupted abruptly by a hand clamping on my arm. A rather chilly hand to be exact. Though, I didn't really have a weakness to ice, it was so cold that I was trying to hard not to twitch.

"Palkia, seriously?" Vanilluxe said in a stern voice.

I looked up at him as he was narrowing his piercing gray eyes at me. From the expression he had on his face, he wasn't all too happy with me. As I looked into his eyes, I felt myself shaking not only out of fear, but from the coldness of his hand. I tried to wiggle my arm from his grasp but he was just too strong to the point where I couldn't even twist my arm around.

"Now, I will tell you that I do NOT tolerate people whining. Alright? Now, think of where on the table you last had your notes. I think maybe they fell down," he suggested as he took his hand off my arm.

Following that, I got up from my seat and knelt to get a better look from under the table. So far, there was nothing, not even dust was around. I crawled under the table to see if there was any place else it would have fallen. I stretched out my arm and felt underneath the table to see if I could feel my note pad. _I need those notes_, I thought to myself as I kept feeling around for them. Then, I could feel a light tap on my shoulder.

In shock, I quickly got up from under the table and turned around. I saw a young girl, standing there behind me, with my note pad in her hand. However, this wasn't just any little girl. When I looked up at her, I could see Gothitelle. Except for the fact that she had longer hair and wore a light black trench coat dress and wore bow ties on her neck, along her dress and both wrists, she looked just like her. I got up from where I was kneeling and reached for my pad. She gave me my pad and she ran her hand through her hair.

"Here, Palkia. I saw that you were taking notes on how to be stronger, so I was looking at your written page to see if you were getting the _right_ information," the girl said.

"T-thanks, but, how did you know what was my mission?" I asked.

"You had the names of everyone in the top five written on the front sheet and you wrote down 'ask for ideas on how to be strong'. So that's how I knew," she replied. "Also I saw that you crossed off Latios' name on your page. So I took it as you already spoke to him since I saw you had a whole page written with stuff he said to you."

With all that stuff I have written, I should have known that she would come to that conclusion. Yes it was true, I wrote down their names so that I could remember everyone I was supposed to talk to. I also wanted to keep track, as I said before, of everything that they say to me so that I could look them over and study them. The more I study them the more I could take in the advice given to me an act on it, to make myself and my powers better.

When I opened my note pad, however, I saw that a page was ripped out. An important page to be exact, this was the one where I've written my notes from Latios. And now that it's missing, I start to panic. However, careful not to whine again and annoy a certain ice type Pokemon, I turned to him and the girl and there, I saw that he was holding the ripped page. As he was scanning the page, he looked up at me and raised his eyebrow at me and then looked down to keep reading the page.

"Sorry Palkia, I saw your notes from Latios and I didn't like what I read, so my dad's reading it," the girl said as she looked up at Vanilluxe reading the page.

He then folded the page in half and handed it over to the young girl as he whispered some things to her. As soon she walked away with my page, I quickly got up and tried to run after her. However, I felt, once again, Vanilluxe's cold hand clamping on my wrist. He was trying to keep me from either going into certain parts of the house or chasing after her. Either way, my frustration has gone up quite a bit. This little girl has taken off with my important notes, notes I need to become stronger. Not only that, but these were notes from someone I was beginning to look up to.

"Sit back down, Palkia," he said in a stern voice.

"But she has my notes!" I yelled as I tried to break free from his grasp.

"Sit. Back. Down. I will explain it as soon as you do that," he said in a more agitated tone.

Hearing that he was going to explain, I did what he said and sat back down on my chair. I was trying to fight back tears as I was waiting for him to tell me. What if this girl doesn't return my page? What is she going to do with it? Those were the questions that were running through my mind at the moment. I was very confused, and so was Milotic as she just sat there in her own chair looking around.

"Now Palkia, I know you're confused and frustrated, but, I've told Gothorita to take the paper to Gothitelle so that she could get a read on it, alright?" Vanilluxe said as he was trying to explain everything to me. "Maybe she could help you with that since you are here to talk to her."

"I understand, but why didn't she like my notes?" I asked.

I was puzzled as to why Gothorita didn't like what she read. I mean, I made sure to listen to Latios as he spoke to me. Maybe I said something wrong or maybe there was a detail he left out. But for whatever reason, I sat there, confused. Latios is a very intelligent man and I think what he had said to me had truth to it.

"So… you talked to Latios?" Milotic asked.

"Yes I did, before I came here. Some drama here and there but I got what I needed from him. Plus he told me that I had potential," I answered.

"Lucky you! He doesn't like me at all," she laughed. "Anyway, I'm sorry, go on."

Vanilluxe got up from his original seat and proceeded to sit in the seat that was on the left side of the table from where I was sitting, closer to me and across from Milotic.

"Now Palkia, after reading those notes of yours, I was pissed to be honest. Not at you, but at Latios. We both didn't like what we had read. I want to tell you that as a man, your gender has no bearing on how strong you could be. You could be as strong as any man if you believe you could. In fact, I'm male and I have two girls who are stronger than me! My own wife and daughter, can you believe it?" he started to chuckle towards the end.

"It is weird that a seven year old could out match a twenty-six year old," I laughed.

"Now then, I would take everything Latios says to you with a grain of salt. I say that because you know that Latios doesn't think highly of girls, right? Hell, he doesn't think highly of his own _girlfriend_. Like you, he tells her that she has potential, but what it really means is that you have potential to be strong but not as strong as a man. He'll challenge you to battle when you become stronger, but only because he's super confident that he could beat you. How do I know? Because he's told Gothorita the same thing some time ago.

He told her that she had potential to be stronger while she was training herself and asked her to battle him when she was strong enough, although she was. So being the strong little girl she was, she challenged him at that very moment. He was hesitant because one she was a girl and two she was very young. But after insisting, he agreed to battle her. Guess what? She kicked his butt, and he was pissed," Vanilluxe told me as he was telling his story.

I would understand why Latios would be upset. In his mind, to be male and lose to a girl is embarrassing, but to lose to a _seven year old girl_ who's more than half your height, what would be enough to not show my face. Especially since if I was a very strong and respected person. I could sympathize with him on a level but he would have to get over it. In fact, maybe that's the reason as to why when I brought up Gothitelle and Gothorita in our conversation, he dodged it. He was too embarrassed to admit that two girls were more competent than he was. Even if he did admit it, I would still look at him in a positive light.

"I could understand, but he would have to get over it. He's still a man," I replied.

"To be honest with you, I wouldn't say he's a _man_ per say. I'd call him a guy, he's male but he's too immature to be considered a man. I hate to toot my own horn, but at least I am secure in myself to get over the fact that my wife and daughter are stronger and better battlers than me and not let it bother me. Being a better battler does not reflect what kind of person I am. Or a better example would be Gallade and Charizard. Those guys aren't the strongest guys out there. In fact, if I remembered correctly, you are higher on the list than they are. However, they know that it has no bearing as to who they are as Pokemon," he explained.

That is true. There are some Pokemon who don't care about their placement on the list because they don't let it define them. Heck, there are Pokemon who don't even want to be on the list because of that reason. They don't want to be judged or hurt by their placement and that's okay to. For me, personally, I look at is as progress. Am I getting stronger to a point where I could move up a spot? Would I have people asking me to battle them? If that happened, I would be happy.

"I don't want to take away from my wife's future advice but my point to you is that I think you should aspire to be something more than just someone who can battle well competitively. And if someone says something like what Latios told you, question it. It shows strength mentally to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I respect him as a competitive battler because he gets me going, however, as a person I don't like him. He can be a better Pokemon, but he needs to be secure in himself. So do you, Palkia. You can be strong if you believe you can," Vanilluxe concluded.

Yes, Latios is still stronger however hearing everything I'm hearing, I'm starting to wonder about him. I was also starting to wonder if Vanilluxe was just saying this because he didn't like him. He _did _outright say that he didn't like him and he was coming off as if he thought he was perfect. However, if I saw Latios, I wouldn't confront him with this. It isn't my place to do it. Instead, I just thanked Vanilluxe for taking the time to give me advice.

"Changing the subject, since Milotic has been left out," he said as he winked at the blonde haired girl sitting across from him. "If Gothitelle didn't end the battle, who would have won?"

"Well, since you only had under half your HP left, Vanilluxe and it was her go at the time, she would have won the battle," I replied with a smile.

Milotic sprang from her chair, jumping for joy. "Yes! You got beat by a fourteen year old girl!" she said in sing-song.

Vanilluxe just smiled at the teenage girl has he stuck his hand out for her to shake it. As they both shook hands, "Great battle!" he exclaimed.

As we were all laughing along, we could hear the doorbell ring. We all looked at the door, wondering who could be here. Milotic got up from her chair and pranced to the door. I turned back around and just rested my head on the hard surface. All I wanted was to get some advice from Gothitelle at this point and leave. And hope and pray that Gothorita returns with my page. While I was in my train of thought, I could hear a very familiar accent making its way towards where I was sitting. It sounded very annoyed and presumably annoyed at Milotic.

"We meet again, Palkia!" the voice exclaimed as I felt the pressure of someone touching my shoulder.


End file.
